The Future of Cyclocross

The End of Brake Shudder

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One of the most common complaints with cyclocross bikes is the unnerving shake from the fork under hard braking. Finally, options are building up in the gear world to cut shuddering from bikes.

Manufactures are building forks to withstand more flex, introducing more carbon forks with disc tabs (see Slide 3), and then also adopting cable hangers mounted to the fork crown, rather than the headset, currently the typical location. Moving the cable hanger reduces shudder, but also requires a hole drilled through the fork, which is harder to manufacture in carbon.

Then there’s also the introduction of V-brakes engineered for 'cross racing, such as TRP’s new CX-9 Mini V-Brake set ($130). Unlike mountain bike V-brakes that need modification to work with road levers, the Mini-V provides ample stopping power.